elf face to face with twelve _voltigeurs_ of the Versailles
army; commanded by a lieutenant, who ordered the soldiers to search
the house and shoot any one wearing a uniform. He told me that
he must occupy my drawing-room, which looked on the Rue Royale,
for the purpose of firing on the insurgents, who were holding a
barricade where the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore joins the Rue
Royale. My wife was seated on her sofa. He ordered her to leave
the room. She resisted, and was removed by force. The soldiers then
began firing on the insurgents from the windows. The insurgents
had possession of the upper floors of some houses facing mine, and
fired with such effect that the soldiers were driven from their
position. The officer withdrew his men from the drawing-room and
asked for a map of Paris, for he did not know exactly where he
was. I made a friend of him by pointing to my pictures, everyone
of which proved me to be a friend and follower of the emperor. He
asked me if I had any wine to give his men, who had had nothing
to eat or drink since the previous night. While they were partaking
of bread and wine in the kitchen, and I was talking with the officer
in the dining-room, a shot fired from across the street struck the
officer on the temple. He fell as if struck dead. His soldiers
rushed in and seized me. They were about to shoot me on the spot,
when luckily my servant, with water and vinegar, brought the officer
to his senses, so that he could raise his hand and make a sign to
the soldiers, who had me fast by both my arms, to keep quiet. By
God's mercy the officer had only been stunned. He had been hit,
not by a bullet, but by a piece of brick forced out of the wall by
a shot. I was released, but the soldiers were far from satisfied,
believing their officer had accepted this explanation only to spare
my life. They left my house at nightfall, and afterwards the fire
of the insurgents became so hot that the front wall of the house
fell in, and everything I had was smashed to pieces.

"The next morning, May 26, as I was searching for some valuable
papers among the ruins, two men in plain clothes entered and ordered
me to follow them to the Prefecture of Police, temporarily located
on the Quai d'Orsay. As Paris was by this time completely under
military rule I was examined by an officer. I told him that, not
knowing for what purpose I was wanted, I had left my papers at
home, and was sent under charge of two men to fetch the